School Psychology Specialist Program Funding Issues

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Hello - I'm a long time lurker and first time poster here in need of some advice.

How common is it for school psychology specialist programs to provide 100% funding? I am having a hard time finding these programs if they do exist (I am only aware of UDel and Lehigh).

I accepted an offer at a private university several months ago, but am thinking about backing out. I accepted the offer under the impression that I was "very likely" to secure an assistantship. Unfortunately I have not been able to so far and it appears that all hopes for finding funding this year are nil. There are no guarantees for my second year either.

I've been thinking that perhaps I need to wait a year and take the opportunity to make myself a stronger candidate for the 2013-2014 application cycle (by taking some classes locally, getting a job working directly with kids, etc.).

I've researched some public, in-state programs and while they are cheaper, the cost of the classes I would need to take this fall already makes the grand total close to that of my current private university program. Unfortunately the public, in-state programs do not guarantee assistantships either.

I am wondering if it is normal for specialist students to have to take out a large amount of loans in order to become a school psychologist? Based on my calculations (for tuition, fees, living expenses, and books) - it appears I will need 80-100k total for the three years. I plan to work part-time during years one and two (assuming I never get an assistantship) and obtain a paid internship in year three, but I still do not for see that income covering much.

Any help or advice you have would be appreciated. I applied to 9 programs total, but after receiving an offer from my top choice (I was lured by the great location, great professors, and great students and did not think through the funding aspect as thoroughly as I should have), I made the mistake of not even attending the interviews for the others. I am kicking myself now for sure.

To my limited understanding, school psychology programs by and large no longer have the allure of funding, job security, etc. as they used to have. If your program is mixed school-counseling/clinical, I think you would have a better chance receiving (closer to) 100% funding. Have you looked into loan forgiveness programs?

Trinity in Texas (EdS program) funds as well. Many PhD/PsyD programs in school psych fully fund students, but few specialist programs do. Feel free to pm me for more specific info, if you want.

Originally Posted by futureapppsy2

Trinity in Texas (EdS program) funds as well. Many PhD/PsyD programs in school psych fully fund students, but few specialist programs do. Feel free to pm me for more specific info, if you want.

Yep, here's the link for Trinity's financial support: http://www.trinity.edu/departments/e...Psych_SP09.pdf

Looks like a pretty good deal ...